Mary Kay Bergman

Mary Kay Bergman (June 5, 1961 – November 11, 1999), also credited as Shannen Cassidy, was an American voice actress and voice-over teacher.

Bergman was born on June 5, 1961, in Los Angeles, California, to Jewish parents.

She was the only child of musicians David "Dave" Bergman and Patricia Paris "Pat" McGowan.

She grew up around the corner from the home of Adriana Caselotti, the original voice of Snow White.

Her parents performed as a singing duo at lounges and clubs in Reno and Las Vegas, Nevada, and Los Angeles.

They settled in Los Angeles after her mother became pregnant.

Characterizing her mother's previous work inking and painting cels for Fleischer Studios, Bergman said it was a mechanical task, but it piqued her mother's interest in animation that was shared with Bergman years later by watching Saturday-morning cartoons with her.

Among Bergman's favorites were Jonny Quest, The Flintstones, and Wait Till Your Father Gets Home, which she considered a "precursor to The Simpsons."

Bergman attended Joseph Le Conte Middle School and Hollywood High School, graduating in June 1978 with top academic honors.

Following in the steps of one of her idols, Carol Burnett, Bergman attended University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and studied theater arts from 1978 until 1981.

She was a classmate and friend of future Simpsons voice actress Nancy Cartwright.

After getting cast in an equity-waiver play outside of school, Bergman decided to leave UCLA.

Having started acting in high school plays, she got an agent for on-camera commercials, film, and television and studied privately with acting coach Harry Mastrogeorge for several years.

At age 16, Bergman received her first professional acting job in the television film Return Engagement, which starred Elizabeth Taylor.

After leaving school, Bergman joined a small agency that had started six months earlier.

She had an audition for an exercise program that was going to be on television and got the role.

She was hired because she had a "nice figure" but could also be a dancer, comedian, singer, or impressionist.

However, less than a week after she got the job, the agency closed.

Bergman said, "Everything fell apart. I thought, 'I'm really not getting anywhere. Maybe I should give up this silly dream of mine about becoming this great star and actually get a real job.'"

Bergman's next post was as a receptionist for the Boy Scouts of America.

She enjoyed the job and was pleased to work with the people of the organization.

Bergman commented, "All the time I kept hearing, 'Gosh, you have a lovely speaking voice. You should do something with that.'" She worked as a receptionist for an insurance company and from there she moved up the ranks to become an assistant underwriter, which she found extremely boring.

To break the monotony, Bergman thought about becoming a disc jockey but could not find information about where to take classes and considered a career in the air force.

The origins of Bergman's voice acting can be traced to when she attended a housewarming party at one of her co-workers' houses.

Someone brought a karaoke machine to the party and Bergman started "going wild", using several different voices.

One of the guests at the party was studying with voice-over coach Kat Lehman and suggested she take a class with his teacher, which she did.

Bergman took many voice-over classes in order to do many different styles and voices.

Some specialized in animation, some in ADR/looping, and others in commercial and improvisation.

Bergman studied the skill of matching celebrity voices.

Bergman stated that accents came very easily to her.

She stated that she enjoyed doing accents such as Chinese, Japanese, Australian, English, American, French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

In 1989, she began voicing the Disney character Snow White.

In the 1990s, she voiced Daphne Blake in three films from the Scooby-Doo franchise as well as Timmy Turner in Oh Yeah! Cartoons.

Shortly after Bergman's death, her husband Dino Andrade established the Mary Kay Bergman Memorial Fund.

In 1994, Bergman started teaching the technique of doing voice-overs for animation at the Kalmenson & Kalmenson Studios in Burbank, California.

She was the lead female voice actress on South Park from the show's debut in 1997 until her death.

Throughout her career, Bergman performed voice work for over 400 television commercials and voiced over 100 cartoon, film, and video game characters.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Bergman had an interest in fantasy and animation early in her life.

She acted in plays during high school and also studied theater at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

After struggling to secure on-screen acting jobs, she began taking work as a voice-over actress.